Chapter 6: The Experiment

Chapter 6: The Experiment

The Experiment

A few nights later, Ivens father made one of his infrequent visits to the Enclave.

Iven borrowed money from his older brother, who was the only person still willing to lend it. He trimmed his auburn hair until it was the exact length his father thought of as proper, and took the man out to eat at his favorite tavern. His father was immediately suspicious, but he was tired enough from his travels that he didnt demand any answers right away.

Iven waited until his sire had downed a mug of beer before he broached the topic he wanted to discuss.

Father, he said in his most respectful voice, arent you doing something important with the cotton trade in Kashwin right now?

His father grunted and eyed him over his second mug. Whats this about then?

He really was a very suspicious man. Iven didnt feel hed earned this much caution. Well, it was no good to beat around the bush. Ivens request was likely too much, and it was definitely too strange. He was enough of a merchants son to know there was no real way to ease a man into a dragons mouth.

I need five hundred thousand cotton seeds. And a farmer.

Ivens father sputtered on his beer. Then he stared at Iven incredulously, an actual laugh bubbling out of his mouth.

Five hundred thousand seeds and a farmer, he repeated. Are you giving up on magic entirely?

Iven winced. This next part was key. I have a new kind of luck spell in mind.

His fathers mirth ended in an instant. No. I cant believe

If it doesnt work, Iven said hastily, Ill never spend another moment studying luck magic. Ive already decidedthis is the last time. The last time ever if it fails. I promise. Ill swear it in blood before the family council if you want me to.

His father tilted his head, eyeing Iven thoughtfully. What exactly do you think youre going to do, Iven? he said, when his contemplation had ended. Do you think you can bless a pile of seeds and a farmer, and have their yields improve?

Iven hesitated. Its easier than that, but more complicated.

His father sighed.

No really! said Iven. Iwell, Ive realized that luck magic is useless the way its always been done. Its a complete waste. But I think I can scry the seeds and tell if theyre lucky. Actually, I can tell how lucky they are, which is even better.

Ive never heard of anyone scrying for luck, said his father in an incredulous voice.

It works! said Iven, unable to keep a little bit of his enthusiasm from leaking into his voice. Ive been refining a technique for it over the past two months. Thats why Master Enetta finally quit teaching me enchanting. She says Im hopeless. Its different from a normal scrying. Its better to do it using ritual magic, which makes it harder and more expensive. But the thing is, it really does work!

You can tell how lucky something is using a scrying ritual, his father repeated.

Yes, I can, said Iven.

Whats the catch?

Pardon?

I may only be a low magician, he said, but I know enough to understand it cant be that simple. Not with luck magic.

Oh, said Iven. Iyes. Theres a problem. But its just the same problem there always is with scrying. It can only tell you somethings past or immediate present. I can only tell you how lucky the seeds are right at that very moment.

It doesnt account for future variables you mean, said his father. Thats more than a small problem, Iven. Your seeds could be lucky one minute and unlucky the next.

They can. But its about likelihood. I think luck magic actually bridges the future variables problem better than other kinds of scrying. Because of its nature. It seems to be working that way so far, at any rate. The things I make lucky dont stay exactly as lucky as I made them. It oscillates. But overall theyre much luckier than they would have been. Only I need to perform a much bigger experiment to prove it.

His father held up a hand to stem the flow of words. What do you mean you make something lucky? You just said youd given up on that and you were only trying to scry objects.

Ivens eyes widened and he leaned forward over the table. DaI mean, Fatherits not exactly making luck. Thats why I need to do something bigger. I thinkI might be going a little mad, but I really, truly believe I mightve figured out a way to find good luck. And then, all you have to do is take advantage of it.

It wasnt like any other kind of scrying hed heard about, but it had such an obvious effect. Clearly, Northeastern Kashwin and these seeds didnt mesh well. He couldnt tell perfectly how unlucky they were by judging his own feelings, but he knew it was more than a little bit. Perhaps hed get better at narrowing things down with time.

Taking a deep breath to collect himself, he started over again.

These seeds are bound for Northwestern Kashwin. Im the boss here. Nobody can argue with me. To Northwestern Kashwin theyll go!

It was a long process, and Iven became very nervous when the entire kingdom of Kashwin appeared to be bad luck for his seeds.

He knew next to nothing about cotton production, and contrary to his expectations, his elders had told him it should be kept that way for the sake of this experiment. But he had at least heard Kashwini Cotton spoken of reverently by people, and the Enclave was sending his father to help organize trade routes there, so it must be a good place to grow the crop.

But it felt bad. If he was following his own rules, then he had to cross it off.

What if you cant scry luck at all? a cruel little voice asked him. What if you're picking up on some other useless piece of information instead?

Still, there was no path out now except to move forward. So he continued on narrowing down the place where his seeds would grow with a dogged determination.

It took a few days to cover the entire continent. And a couple more to narrow down the appropriate date. And one to narrow down the farmer from the list of names.

When he was done, Iven checked all of it twice more. These seeds are going to a hamlet at the base of the Sesh Mountain Range in Nevera, he thought with conviction. They will be planted on the 23rd day of Holy Raes month. Farmer Jan Zindor will be given charge of them.

Wow, the seeds were looking really nice now! Iven didnt know why hed been so worried. They were practically bursting with life. It was obvious.

Okay, then, he murmured, relaxing his magic.

He took up a pen and filled out his part of the contract carefully. When he turned it in to the Uncle who was monitoring his work that day, Iven stared hard at his face, looking for any sign of surprise or disappointment. But the man was completely unreadable as he rolled up the contract.

Ill deliver this, he said. Take your usual break, and well have a new batch of seeds brought in for you.

The family had insisted on five different test sites.

It was a frightening amount of responsibility.

#

A month later, the top Seniors of the Orellen family met in the Enclaves council room. At the end of the meeting, Senior Dowither brought up the matter of Ivens scrying. The boys finally finished the processdamnably long and expensive as it was. He didnt choose a single farm in Kashwin.

Are you thinking we should reconsider our investments there this season? asked Senior Elyna, eyeing him in surprise over her teacup.

No, Im merely pointing out the boys foolishness. Who grows cotton in Nevera? Do you know how much we had to pay that farmer he selected to get the man to go there? He thought wed lost our minds!

I agree its likely foolishness, Elyna agreed, though she had been one of Ivens main supporters on the council. But its exciting isnt it? To imagine it working...

Its a little terrifying, to be honest, another council member said. And luck magic users are rare. They've been bred nearly out of existence. We would never have approved the boy's marriage to anyone above low magician, and most lines would have taken it a step further and declared him a non-practitioner. If hes rightwell have to keep the other families from stealing him or assassinating him."

"And invest whatever it takes to get him to a high-ranking mage level," Elyna added. "Low sorcerer, even, if it's possible for him. Scrying is a basic skill but its accuracy increases vastly as you gain understanding. Fifty years from now, hell be sitting in this room drinking tea with those of us who are left.

Senior Dowither snorted. If.

If, they all agreed.

#

Later that year, the outbreak of a certain weevil decimated the cotton crop in the Kingdom of Kashwin.

And in a small hamlet in Nevera, a High Sorcerer who specialized in life magic fell unexpectedly in love with a handsome young farmer named Jan Zindor.

She spelled his cotton field as an engagement present.